Ice-can-holding means.



J. H. COESFELD.

[CE CAN HOLDlNG MEANS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.2. 1917.

1,278,109. Patented Sept. 10,1918.

JOHN H. (IOESIFELI), 0F OMAHA, NEBRASKA,'ASSIGNOR TO BAKER ICE MACHINE COMPANY, OF OMAHA, NEBRASKA, A CORPORATION OF NEBRASKA.

ICE-CAN-HOLDING MEANS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed January 2, 1917. Serial No. 140,256.

To all wham it may concern: 7

Be it known that I, JOHN H. CoEsFELo, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Omaha, in the county of Douglas and State of Nebraska, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ice-Can- Holding Means, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to ice-making apparatus, and particularly to apparatus in which cans containing fresh water are immersed in brine-tanks for freezing the water contained in the cans. It is the object of my invention to provide simple, positive, inexpensively constructed and easily operated means for securely holding such ice-cans in proper position in a brine-tank during the freezing operation.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a perspective view of pertinent portions of an apparatus embodying my invention, Fig. 2 is a detail plan view of a portion of one of the frame-members having one of the pivoted can-holders thereon, Fig. 3 is a detail transverse section on the vertical plane of the line 33 of Fig. 2, Fig. 4 is a longitudinal vertical section of the parts shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 5 is a transverse vertical section of the same.

In commercial ice-making apparatus, the fresh water from which theice is to be formed is usually placed in open-topped sheet-metal vessels or cans which are of oblong rectangular form and of a size determined by the size of the ice-cakes which are to be produced. During the freezing operation, said ice-cans are surrounded by a liquid refrigerating medium which is ordinarily a heavy brine or approximately saturated solution of common salt, the same being contained in a suitable tank and being cooled by liquid ammonia or the like expanded within pipes passing through or otherwise brought into contact with the brine. For convenient and economical operation. the brine-tanks are made of, such size as to be capable of containing a large num-- unless the weight of each can is itself sufiicient to compensate for the difference in weight of the contained fresh water or ice and the volume of brine displaced by the submergence of the can to the requireddepth 'in the brine. On account of said buoyancy of the cans, it is necessary that the can-holding means be such as to hold the cans down to the proper depth in the brine, as well as to retain them in position laterally and to prevent submergence of the cans to a depth such that the brine might overflow the open tops thereof and pollute the fresh water or ice therein. It is also desirable that the canholding means shall provide for covering the top of the brine-tank as a whole, while permitting any of the cans to be removed or replaced without disturbing the others.

In the can-holding means provided by my invention, the brine-tank (not shown in the drawings) is of any suitable and desired construction, and the ice-cans 6 are of the usual oblong rectangular form, each having at the upper end thereof a flat metal re.- inforcing band forming at its lower edge a narrow projecting ledge or shoulder 7. Across the top of the tank there are extended a plurality of horizontal beams 8 set vertically edgewise and spaced apart equally like the joists of a floor. Said beams or joists 8 are usually of wood, and the spacing thereof is such that the ice-cans may pass between them with a slight clearance at each end. Extending transversely across the lower edges of the joists 8 there are a plurality of flat bars 9 of metal, said bars being parallel with each other and spaced apart at such distances that the bodies of the cans 6 may .pass down between them, but so that the' ledges or shoulders 7 at the sides of the cans will engage the upper sides of the bars and limit the depth to which the cans may be submerged in the brine. The depth of the brine in the tank is so regulated that the level thereof will always be below the tops of the cans when the shoulders 7 of the cans rest on the bars 9. Extending transversely across the upper edges of the joists 8, and positioned directly above each of the bars 9, there is a series of metal bars 10 which are narrower than the bars 9 by an amount substantially twice the width of the shoulders on the cans, so that the space between the edges of each adjacent pair of the bars 10 is sufficient to permit the shouldered upper Patented Sept. 10, 1918.

ends of the cans to pass between them. The bars 10 are mortised or set into transverse notches in the joists, so that the upper edges of the joists and said bars are flush, and both sets of the bars 9 and 10 are secured to the joists by bolts 11 extending vertically through them, as shown. shouldered covers 12 are provided, having lower portions adapted to fit within the rectangular spaces between the joists and bars 10, the upper portions of the covers extending out far enough to be substantially in contact with each other and thus to form a continuous level floor over which the workmen or attendants may move about when removing the ice-cans or replacing them in position. The corners of the laterally projecting portions of the covers are recessed, as shown at 13 in Fig. 1, to provide space for the heads of the bolts 11, and each of the covers has a staple 14 or the like near one edge, by which it'may be conveniently lifted to afford access to the can-compartment beneath it.

In the sides of the joists 8 adjoining each end of the several can-compartments there are formed cylindro-segmental recesses 15 of which the lower sides are at substantially the same level as the tops of the ice-cans when the shoulders 'l' are resting upon the bars 9. Through each of said recesses 15 a pin 16 extends vertically, said pin being driven into an opening therefor extending from the edge of the beam or joist and intersecting the recess near the inner side thereof. "When the opening or hole for the pin opens to the lower edge of the joist, a smaller pin or nail 17 may be driven through laterally beneath the end thereof, as shown in Fig. 3, to prevent accidental displace ment of the vertical pin. The portion of the pin 16 within the recess extends loosely through the vertically-perforate endportion of a small approximately triangular metal plate 18 of which the lower edge extends horizontally and the upper edge slopes upwardly from the point or outer end to the pivoted inner end. The height of the plate 18 at the pivoted end thereof is less than the height of the recess 15, and washers 19 are disposed around the pivot-pin 16 above and below the plate, as shown in Fig. 3, said washers insuring free pivotal movement of the plate about the axis of the pin. The length of the recess 15 is such that when the plate is swung to either side it will lie almost entirely within the recess, so that the reinforced top of an icecan may be raised or lowered past the plate without iii-- torference. It may be noted further that the several recesses 15 in the opposite sides of a joist are not coincident longitudinally thereof, but are so spaced as to be near opment of the can with the inclined upper edges of the plates willtend to turn theplates back into the recesses far enough to allow the can to pass. After the can is down in place and resting upon the bars 9,

the triangular plates at each end of the compartment are turned out over the upper edge of the can to keep the same properly submerged during the freezing operation. The

cover 12 is then replaced until the freezing of the water is completed. After the formation of the icecake in the can, the cover is removed, the plates 18 are swung aside into the recesses 15, and thereafter the can may be readily lifted out of the compartment and another placed therein as before. it will be particularly noted that by the use of my invention the lateral space between the ice-cans is reduced to a minimum, and that there may thus be placed. in a tank of given size a maximum number of the icecans, all of which may be securely held in properly submerged )osition regardless of either the weight or uoyancy thereof, and each being readily removed'and replaced without disturbing the others.

Now, having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

In ice-making apparatus, can-holding means for brine-tanks, comprising horizontally extending joists, transverse bars se-v cured to the upper and lower edges of said joists, said bars and joists s aced to form rectangular compartments etween them through which the body-portions of ice-cans may pass vertically, the lower bars arranged to limit downward movement of the cans, the joists having recesses in the sides thereof at opposite ends of the several compartments, pivot-pins extending vertically through said recesses, and plates pivoted on said pins, said plates having horizontal lower edges and diagonal upper edges and being swingable from positions substantially within the recesses to positions at which parts thereof will extend into the vertical paths of portions of the cans.

a. n. consents. 

